Reveals (Part 4 of The Melinda Chronicles)
by shoboni
Summary: Follow up to Revelations where Melinda attempts to explain immortality to everyone else while poor Tails runs interference and tries to keep everyone from having a heart-attack long enough for her to do so.
1. Amy Rose

"You sure you don't want a helmet? Maybe a big old shield? I'm sure you already know how to use one." Sonic laughed as the vixen paced back and forth in the small kitchen of the workshop.

Melinda noticed that Sonic warmed back up to her pretty quick and didn't really act like much had changed now that he was sure of her. The two had spent several hours talking once they reached the shop and he even apologized for his attitude with her, much to her shock and she assured him she was actually glad because it he showed her how protective he really was towards her son and how strong the brotherly bond they formed was. It was amazing to her how this kid was suddenly once again treating her like an old friend.

Of course, that didn't change her reservations with his plan of sending Tails out to retrieve Amy so they could spring this bomb on her fast and quick. She guessed he thought the shock might throw her off enough to disarm any potential violent reactions. He also mentioned that Cream looked up to Amy like a big sister and if she wanted that poor kid to warm back up her, having Amy to vouch for her would go a long way, as it would with her mother.

That didn't make it easy, though, because it would potentially involve re-gaining the trust of the stubborn pink hedgehog. It was likely she'd feel scorned simply because two individuals she trusted kept something like this from her. She never took kindly to her friends keeping secrets and this was a BIG one to cope with because she thought one of her friends was dead, and according to Sonic he thought he would have to pry her Miles off because she ran up and hugged the poor kid so tight he was choking. It was a nice gesture of affection towards someone she must see as a little brother, but breathing is kind of important.

"Why do you think your friend out there is still fuming? He's done nothing but stand there in the living room since we got back," She tried to break the tension with some small-talk.

"Probably still steamed over me laughing at him. I know it was probably a little mean but I can't resist giving him a hard time," Sonic replied.

"I got the impression he considered me a threat for some reason," Melinda said.

"Nah, he's just far more protective of Tails than he likes to let on and I think he's still having trouble believing it all. I'm sure he'll realize none of this changes who you are and come around eventually, though," Sonic put his feet up the table and leaned back in his chair.

"Like you did?" She smiled and leaned on the counter.

"Right on," Sonic gave a thumbs-up and a wink, "of course, I guess I always knew there was something unusual about you and that softened the blow."

"How so?" She rummaged around the cupboard for a coffee mug.

"Well, for one I've dealt with the goons from GUN long enough to know a soldier when I see one, and when I meant you I saw one. Just something about your eyes and the way you carry yourself." Sonic said.

"That obvious?" She took a sniff of the coffee in the pot before deciding it seemed okay and filling a mug.

"Also, you're drinking black coffee that was brewed hours ago. I've only ever seen soldiers, truck drivers, and cowboys do that," Sonic chuckled.

"I guess I never noticed how big a tell that was." She laughed.

"Of course, the part that confused me was the way you fight. Granted, I only saw you fight once that time a mugger tried to jump you and Tails but that definitely wasn't anything GUN teaches and certainly wasn't street fighting. It was some like some Batman stuff going on." Sonic obviously made no effort to hide his amazement.

"You know, Miles said the same thing that night," She smiled and took a long drink.

"Well, it's probably true. You've probably picked just as many things as Bruce Wayme over those 12 centuries. You're like some old master," Sonic said.

"Was that a crack about my age?" She gave a playful grin.

"Hey, even if you look young enough to be my sister, you're still old enough to be in a museum," Sonic grinned.

"I'll take that as a compliment," She smirked.

"I'm glad to see Knuckles was nice enough to stop bye, I was afraid you we're out here all alone." Amy's voice rang out from the living room.

"No, Sonic's here to and I'm sure he heard us come in. He's probably getting what I wanted to show you right now," Miles raised his voice at that last part, obviously signaling that it was showtime.

"You ready you make an appearance?" Sonic asked.

"I guess it's now or never, huh?" Melinda answered.

* * *

"OH MY GOD! IT'S A GHOST!" Amy shrieked as Miles tried to talk her down off the coffee table.

"Amy! Please put the hammer down and we can talk about this. My Mom can explain everything!" Miles pleaded

"HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT'S HER AND NOT SOME VENGEFUL SPIRIT, OR EVEN ONE OF EGGMAN'S ROBOTS!" Amy continued rambling

"I know because it's my Mom, and because I already know everything and we can explain if you'd just come down." Miles said.

"Also, I'm pretty sure robots don't have a digestive system and I'm standing here drinking coffee, right in front of you. I also kind of have to pee but you're going to have to take my word on that one," Melinda said, prompting everyone to look in her direction.

"Well, that was kind of unlady like," Sonic teased.

"I was born before basic etiquette, cut me me some slack." Melinda said.

"A part of me thinks I should really be more used to how shameless you can be by now," Miles said.

"Hey, I have some modesty. I did wear a sheet." Melinda teased.

"Which I'm thankful for, I think seeing you die again was enough trauma without seeing you, well, you know." Miles turned a little red.

"Oh, I am sorry you had to dig through my und-" Melinda was cut-off

"I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up him later, but we have kind of a situation to deal with right now," Knuckles said, pointing to Amy, who was now clearly even more confused, and possibly even a little grossed out.

"What are you, a vampire or something!?" Amy said in a much calmer tone.

"Well, you've seen me out in daylight and we once had lunch at an italian place." Melinda said.

"Then what are you? he said "again", like you've died before." Amy asked.

"Amy, hun. Just come down and we can talk about it. I'll explain everything to you." Melinda slowly walked forward.

"Stay back!" Amy readied her hammer.

"Amy, listen to me a minute." MIles said.

Amy turned her gaze to MIles without loosening her grip on the hammer.

"You trust me, right?" Miles asked.

"Yes," Amy replied.

"I'm also pretty sure you trust Sonic, and he's standing right next to her." Miles said.

"Of course I trust him, I love him!" Amy said.

"Oh boy, here we go." Sonic said.

"Then why don't you come down and let us all try to explain?" Miles said, obviously ignoring the comment.

"Okay, but I'm not letting my guard down." Amy slowly climbed down the table and sat down on the couch, still gripping her hammer like her life depended on it.

MIles motioned to his mother and she sat down in a chair across from Amy while he climbed up the arm of the overstuffed chair next to her. He seemed completely calm so she couldn't tell if was still an instinctive effort to stay close or just an attempt to relax Amy by showing his trust, maybe both? Sonic merely drug a chair out of the kitchen and took seat. Melinda noted Amy's apparent frustration with him keeping his distance.

"Amy, we're friends, right?" Melinda asked.

"Melinda was my friend, but I'm not sure you're really her." Amy said.

"I assure you I am." Melinda said.

"Prove it." Amy challenged.

"Your name is Amy Elizabeth Rose, you were born September 23, 2001. Your favorite color is obviously pink. You've been following that one around since you we're tweens, and I have to add here I still wonder where your parents are to this day, and you admittedly found MIles to be something like an annoying younger sibling until you warmed up to him. Anything else?" Melinda finally took a breath.

"I guess the years haven't dulled your memory," Sonic said with an impressed whistle.

"Oh, God, it is you," Amy covered her mouth and Melinda noticed her eyes beginning to tear up.

Almost instinctively, she got up and crossed the room to lean down next to the girl. Without a second thought she hugged her and Amy returned the gesture without protest. Despite her tough exterior and attempts to hold a grown up persona, this was still a teenage girl that had thought one of her friends dead just hours ago. Melinda recognized that vulnerability and comforted her just like she would any other child

"You okay now?" Melinda said

"Yeah, I think so." Amy replied with a deep breath.

Melinda broke away and sat down next to her, putting an arm over the back of the couch, and gave Amy a minute to collect herself.

"I don't understand, how are you still alive? They declared you dead at the scene," Amy asked

"I'm sort of immortal," Melinda just blurted it out, not knowing how else to put it into words.

"Doesn't that mean you can't die? You we're dead today though, but I guess you're weren't really because you're here and oh God, this is all confusing." Amy rambled.

"Well, I'm immortal, not invincible. I can still be hurt, or even killed, but it just doesn't stick for very long." Melinda explained.

"Are you a mutant or something?" Amy asked.

"That's actually a new one, I'm impressed." Melinda chuckled, "but no, myself and others like me are just born this way and none of us really know where we come from because all of us are foundlings-, orphans, and none of can conceive children."

"So Tails is adopted?" Amy asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't make him any less of my son," She gave him a knowing smile.

"I guess that explains a lot, since you look like you would've had to be younger than me when he was born." Amy said, "I guess he was adopted not long before we all met him."

Melinda just blinked, "No, I found him as a baby."

"That would've made you like 12, I think." Amy said.

"Here's the thing, part of the whole Immortal deal is that we get eternal youth in a sense. The first time we die we kind of become locked in and stop aging." Melinda explained.

"Oh, so you must be like Vanilla's age, then?" Amy asked.

"I'm actually pushing something like 1200, even if I look 20." Melinda explained.

"WOW, you must be something like the oldest thing on the planet, human or mobian." Amy said.

"I admit, I'm old even by immortal standards but I'm far from the oldest. I know of others that are from ancient Rome, or even the Bronze age. The oldest of us to survive this long was born over 5,000 years ago, but I'm not sure if he's still alive because it's been years since I saw him" Melinda said.

"So you guys have kind of always been around, then?" Amy asked.

"Yes, it's possible the first of us were born with the dawn of modern humanity." Melinda said."

"Do we know any others?" Amy asked.

"Yes, actually. You've known one of my old friends for a few months, or years in the case of MIles, now, but I can't really say who. I'm sure he'll come forward in his own time knowing my cover's blown and I opened up, through." Melinda said.

"That explains a lot," Knuckles said, attracting everyone's attention.

"You've figured it out?" Melinda asked.

"Almost certainly, but I'm not the kind to spread rumors," Knuckles smirked.

"I had almost forgot," Miles said, "I remember you two finally explained to me that he was like you, after I found out about you, that is."

"I remember him barely containing himself when I told him the secret was out. He loved giving you those history lessons about his old tribe so much and was glad he didn't have to hide that he was was there for most of it," Melinda said

"Well, let's hope we re-meet him soon so half of us aren't locked out of the loop," Sonic said.

"He's a good guy, you'll all like him," Melinda said, "but for now, there's still one more situation to handle."

"What's that?" Amy said.

"We still have to tell Vanilla and…" Melinda trailed off.

"Oh! That's right. She was asking me if Tails was doing okay and she didn't look the best herself." Amy said.

"Cream?" Melinda asked.

"Oh God! I almost forgot. She was so upset that neither one of us could calm her down after we had to explain to her that Aunt Mel was gone." Amy said.

"That's what I was afraid of." Melinda said, "since you're close to both of them can you help me fix this?" Melinda asked.

"I'll try my best, but I'm sure that Cream will be overjoyed to see you again when she know's it's safe," Amy said "Vanilla might faint or something at first, but I'm sure we'll get through it."

"I have medical training, it's from roughly 1969, but I have medical training," Melinda said.


	2. Vanilla and Cream

The two foxes stood nervously outside of the small cottage. It was a homey place in the country not unlike a two-story farmhouse painted in pastel shades of pink and white to match the lovingly tended to beds of flowers out front. Melinda had to admit that it reminded her of someplace that could be in the Scottish countryside

"Well, here we are and Amy should already be waiting," MIles said.

"Do we just knock?" Melinda asked.

"I can go in first and talk to them, Amy can come get you and follow me back in when I give the cue," Miles said.

Melinda nodded and stepped to one side as he approached the door and knocked. The door quickly opened and Amy stepped outside.

"It's just Tails," she yelled back inside.

"Come on in, dear," Vanilla answered.

"I have to take care of something, but I'll send him in," Amy shouted back.

"I guess we come on your cue?" Amy said to Miles.

"Right, I'll say there's something I need to tell her and you both come in," Miles said.

* * *

The small kitchen was just as brightly colored to match the rest of the house and a kitty-cat clock swished its tail up on the wall, counting down the seconds with every tick. The place was an obvious mess of pots and pans where Amy had been helping out to cook something. Vanilla quickly turned off the water and turned around as MIles entered.

"Are you okay, dear? I'm sorry about what happened," He flinched a little as she leaned down and hugged him.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine," Miles said.

"It must horrible losing your mom like that, I know Cream was also fond of her and took it hard. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you." Vanilla said.

"Yeah, there's something I needed to tell you about." He raised his voice slightly, giving giving the cue.

"Hey, I'm back." Amy said nervously as she walked into the kitchen with Melinda trailing behind her.

"Oh, did you get what you ne-" Vanilla trailed off as she stood up.

Melinda gave a nervous smile as Vanilla just stared at her, seemingly in shock and blinked a couple times.

"Hello, Val," Melinda said.

Vanilla promptly rolled her eyes back and fainted almost as soon as the words were spoken.

"Well Amy, looks like you we're right," Melinda said with a nervous laugh.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Miles questioned.

* * *

Melinda laid Vanilla down on the couch and felt for a pulse.

"She's seems fine, " Melinda said.

"I'm kind of impressed you carried her bridal-style across the house to the living room, she's almost as tall as you," Amy said.

"That's nothing, you should've seen her when I dropped a spare wing on my leg," Miles said.

"Amy, what's wrong with mother and who-"

Melinda instinctively dived over the couch and landed with a thud behind it as she heard the young voice, not wanting to risk scaring the crap out of the kid before someone could explain.

"Who just hid behind the couch?" Cream innocently asked.

"You're mom just got over-heated passed out, she'll be fine." Amy said.

"Amy, it's the middle of fall," Tails whispered

"Just play along," Amy said.

"Okay, miss Amy, but who's behind the couch?" Cream asked.

"About that, there's something very important we need to talk about as soon as your mom wakes up," Amy said.

"Okay," Cream said as she turned to Miles, "I'm sorry about happened to Aunt Mel, I miss her, to"

She ran up and gave Tails a hug, much to his obvious embarrassment.

"Uh, thanks, Cream." He replied, turning red.

"You can stay with us for a little while, if you want." Cream said.

Melinda listened intently from behind the couch, resisting the urge to jump out and show the poor child that she was okay. She wanted to hug her and tell her that it going to be fine because she could hear in her voice that she had been crying. She wanted to just go out there and tell her that her Aunt Mel was here to stay and that she didn't have to miss her anymore.

"God give me strength," she whispered to herself.

Vanilla moaned and began to stir, attracting everyone's attention. She opened her eyes and rubbed her head as she started to sit up.

"Mother, are you okay?" Cream questioned as she ran and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine dear, but I had the strangest dream." Vanila said, rubbing her head,

This was meant by nervous smiles and forced laughter from both Amy and Miles. Melinda could tell from behind the couch that they were both trying to figure out how to proceed.

"Imagine that," Amy said with a chuckle

"Yes, I could've sworn Melinda was behind you. I guess it must be the stress." Vanila said.

"Listen, there's something we really need to talk to about," Amy said.

"What is it, dear?" Vanilla said as she sat up and straightened her clothes.

"Tails?" Amy turned to Miles, why don't you explain while Cream helps me check on something in the kitchen?"

Amy quickly rushed the child through the door and let it close behind her with a thud.

"Just pass it off on me," he muttered under his breath, "You know, it's kind of a funny story and I'm sure we'll all laugh about this later, but that wasn't a dream. Crazy, huh?"

"I don't understand, dear." Vanilla said.

"My mom is sorta, not dead." Miles nervously fiddled with one of his tails.

"Tails, you have to accept this. I know you're in shock but we're all here for you and I'm sure she's in a better place now." Vanilla places a hand on his shoulder.

"No, she's hiding behind the couch right now." MIles pointed at the couch.

"Are you running a fever," Vanilla placed a hand in his forehead.

Melinda carefully stood into a crouch position and took a deep breath, readying herself. She figured she better intervene for Miles sake before someone thought he was going crazy.

"I know it's hard, but she's gone now and-" Vanilla was cut off.

"I'm right here, actually," Melinda said as she poked her head around the couch.

The two once again stared at each other and Vanilla blinked before opening her mouth and trying to form words.

"Stay with me, Val, don't go fainting again." Melinda placed her hands on the other women's shoulders.

"Tails, dear?" Vanilla said.

"Yes?" He carefully answered.

"Your Mom is really standing here, isn't she?" Vanilla asked.

Miles shook his head yes.

"So I'm just just going into shock with you?" Vanilla asked.

MIles shook his head no.

Vanilla looked at Melinda, and then once again at Miles and then back forth a few more times before smiling.

"I have no idea what's going on here, but it's good to see you and I'm sure Cream will overjoyed. She was so upset we could barely console her," Vanilla said.

"Good to see you, to, Val," Melinda put an arm around her and gave her quick hug.

"I just hope you two find the time to explain all this," Vanilla said.

"It's a long story, but I'll do my best to explain everything I can once we all get settled down," Melinda said.

"Of course, you should talk with Cream first. Like I said, I'm sure she'll be happy to see again." Vanilla said.

"You don't think I'll scare her?" Melinda asked.

"Of course not, I'm sure that with Amy and Tails here she'll be just fine. She'll know it's okay if her friends say so," Vanillia said.

"Yeah, I'm sure Amy will bring her in once she's sure of how to handle it," MIles said.

"I hope so, I don't want to upset the poor girl anymore," Melinda took a seat on the couch next to Vanilla.

Melinda sat in silence and watched Miles pacing back and forth just on the other side of the coffee table. The poor kid had only slept a for a couple hours shortly before dawn at her insistence, and though he'd never admit to it to anyone but her she was pretty sure the fact she promised to camp out in one of the nearby chairs while he laid down on the couch played a factor. She could tell that the near-lack of sleep was starting to have an effect on his nerves.

The creak of the kitchen door pulled her from her thoughts and she looked over to see Amy sticking her head out, looking for some sort of signal.

"Amy, dear, are you girls almost finished? We have a guest." Vanilla said.

Melinda was always somewhat close to her, and thus knew she could be more clever than she often let on. She had noticed Amy and given the perfect subtle signal for her to bring Cream out. She noticed MIles take a deep breath to match her own as they prepared.

A few more sounds of rattling dishes and Amy emerged with a tea tray and Cream in toe. The little girl looked at the couch and froze for a few seconds before hiding behind Amy.

"Hi, Cream," Melinda gave her best smile and watched patiently as she peeked out from behind Amy.

"Cream, it's okay," Amy struggled to balance the tray while glancing behind her.

"No need to be scarred dear, it's just your Aunt Mel," Vanilla motioned for her to come over, "Why don't you come over and sit with us, I know you're probably happy to see her."

"I thought…" Cream trailed off and gave Miles a nervous glance.

"Cream, honey," Melinda carefully leaned forward and the rubber soles of her boots squeaked on the floor, "I know this is hard to understand but I was born with a special gift, so that when I…" She trailed off, looking for words the little girl would understand.

"When you go to heaven?" The little girl spoke up.

Melinda looked up.

"That's how momma explained it to me, that when someone dies their soul goes to heaven," Cream said.

"I guess that's a really nice way of putting it," Melinda said, "When I go to heaven, I get to come back because of my gift."

Melinda noticed Cream's eyes tear up and she slowly came out from behind Amy and cautiously made her way to the couch. The girl climbed up next to her and cautiously held out a hand, to which she held up hers. The two pressed their palms together and Cream carefully felt the leather of her glove.

"See, I'm real," Melinda smiled.

In an instant tears began to flow down the young girl's face and she threw her arms around Melinda, burying her face in the fabric of coat.

"I missed you," Cream choked out through the tears, "I thought I'd never you see again."

"I know honey, but I'm here now and I promise I won't leave you," Melinda gently rubbed the girl's back. She thought back at how much this reminded of her the first time Miles had seen her die and how she held him for seemed like hours trying to get him to calm down and understand.

Melinda looked over to see a look of relief washing over Miles' face, and then over at Amy to see her almost in tears.

"Amy, is something wrong, dear?" Vanilla asked before anyone else could speak.

"It's just so touching, I think I'm going to start crying now," Amy said.

"Come on, kiddo," Melinda held out a free arm to motion Amy over, who quickly sat down the tray hugged her. Vanilla merely placed a hand on Melinda's shoulder.

Everyone save for Cream looked up at Miles, who appeared to be attempting to bite his nails through his glove.

"Group hug?" Melinda grinned at her son.

"Maybe later," Miles said nervously.

"Ah, come on. I don't want to leave you out," She said, inciting a giggle from Cream, who had now calmed down considerable.

Miles stood still for a moment before giving up and approaching, squeezing through to put his arms around his Mom's neck while Amy put a free arm around his back. Melinda could tell he was happy to be in this strange pile-up of family and friendship, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Of course, the quiet "I love you" he whispered in her ear might have been somewhat of an admission, anyway.


	3. Interlude

"You know, I'm glad everything is working out so far," Miles said, taking a sip of his drink.

He and Melinda sat on the balcony of their home, a two-story house on the edge of town just barely outside the woods. It was just starting to get dark and was thankfully shaping up to be a mild night that was just cool enough to be comfortable in the cold night air.

"So am I, even though it's not over yet I can tell we're gonna pull through this and put things back together," Melinda took a bite of Pizza, she'd figured they'd just order in and enjoy the evening after the stressful last few days.

"It's not gonna be easy, though," He took a small bite of his own slice.

"No, but it's worth what ever hell we have coming if it means neither one of us having to uproot ourselves and leave everyone behind," she looked up at the darkening sky.

"Mom, am I the only reason you went through with all this? Telling them, I mean."

She looked over to catch his somewhat nervous stare and smiled at him.

"Miles, you're my son and I'd never do anything to hurt you like making you abandon your friends and life here"

"I just feel like I've maybe put you in danger or been a burden because you couldn't just run away," He fiddled with the straw in this glass.

"Please try not to think of it that way because that's not how it is it all. I didn't make this decision out of obligation or guilt, I made it because I love you and I care about all the friends we've made here. I don't think I could run out out on Val like that that, and I know I didn't want to leave behind that poor kid. You saw today how upset she was, Amy to. I'm even starting to get kind of close with that stubborn blue hedgehog."

"Thanks mom, I know I shouldn't worry but sometimes it's hard to not to,"

"No problem, no matter what happens we'll go through it together," She grinned, "besides, the look on Knuckle's face alone when it dawned on him who I was was worth it all."

"I think he's still steamed about it," He chuckled.

"He probably thought I was some vengeful tribal spirit that was going to whoop him for losing those emeralds so many times," she laughed at the thought.

"I'm sure he'll come around," he said, "but still, I keep thinking about that story he told. That must have been horrible."

"It was one of the worst nights of my life and I can still remember the moment that poor kid stopped breathing and went limp in my arms," she trailed off.

"Are you oka?,"

"I'll be fine, that was 200 years ago and the monster that did it is long buried even if I don't know when or how he kicked it. I'm also sure that kid is at peace now and I had to learn to let go, to," she gave a mournful smile, "besides, things are finally going good and we don't need to let my past ruin the evening."

"Okay, " he smiled back.

"Did you even finish what you were doing with the plane?" She fished another slice out of the box and took a bit.

"Well, I'm been trying to convert the engine so it doesn't need fuel at all and can run solely off a Chaos emerald," He took a sip of his own drink.

"How do you keep those things from frying the plane, anyway? It must be like hooking it into the main line of an entire power station," she took a drink as well.

"I found out chaos energy functions enough like electricity that you can convert it into a less intense current, kind of like what a power adapter for a cell phone does,"

"So basically you stuck something like the mother of all voltage adapters in there, then?"

"Exactly, I figured I could replace the fuel injectors with these things that shoot small energy pulses into the pistons and simulate the engine firing by pushing them up,"

"And?"

"Err, it turns out I need either weaker pulses or a stronger material because it melted the bottoms of the pistons, snapped the arms, and somehow bent the camshaft."

"I hope you have a spare engine,"

"Yeah, I was installing it when you showed up, I'll head back over in the morning and finish up." He yawned.

"You seem like you're ready to crash," She stood up from her chair.

"It's been a long day."

"Why don't you head in and get some sleep, I'll get this cleaned up," she closed the lid of the pizza box and crouched down next to the his chair

"Thanks," he climbed down out of his chair and hugged her, "Goodnight"

"See you in the morning, and Miles: I'll be right here for you no matter what, okay?"

"Love you to, mom."


	4. Eggman

"I've done some snooping around in sealed government records, stuff that they didn't seem to want to find a public explanation for. I found some cases identical to what you say happened with this women, the kid's mother," The image on the monitor was cloaked in shadow and it's voice was distorted by a voice modulator.

"Well? What did you find, my little mole," Eggman said.

"It lead me to a private group they've kept on eye on for some time called The Watchers that have dedicated themselves to shadowing individuals like what she claims to be and keeping records of their lives. From what I can tell they consider themselves historians keeping the stories of these walking relics alive and ensuring all the history they've seen and been a part of won't die with them." The voice said.

"I assume you found your way into their records, as well," Eggman looked up at a copy of the on-scene medical report displayed on one of the other monitors, which also displayed a close-up of the body's face taken for verification purposes next to a more recent picture taken by one of his spybots later that night of her alive and well. It had picked up most of the conversation between her and the Hedgehog as well.

"You know me to well, when I accessed the records with the name Melinda Prower I found nothing because it had been locked out as an alias, but when I used the other name she gave, Melissa MacLeod I found a great deal of interesting information supporting her story, and then some," The figure picked up a manilla envelope and waved it across the screen, "I'll see that a delivery bot gets these copies to you as soon as the usual amount is deposited in my bank account."

"Do you think she's as much as a threat as Sonic?" Eggman asked.

"I can't be certain, she seems to have no special abilities past the whole immortality gig, but if these are to be trusted she's a damn impressive fighter and has been through a variety of combat training as she served various armies and rebel groups throughout the centuries. It notes she's good with explosives and mechanic work, must by where the little gearhead got his smarts from." The figure fiddled with some controls, obviously bringing up information on his screens, "I can imagine she's proficient with a variety of weapons as well."

"Looks like I may need a bit of insurance on my side in case she puts her pieces into play," Eggman said.

"I've been waiting for my cue," a voice rang out from behind the Doctor, causing him to whirl around.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Eggman demanded.

"Most people call me Frostbite," He said, stepping out of the shadows.

It was a mobian fox in pure white clothing to match his fur, his long coat almost trailing on the ground. His right hand from just below the elbow down was cybernetic, as well as most of his left leg. Both artificial limbs were painted a bright blue that stood out against the white fabric of his clothes. The kid couldn't been older than 16 and his youthful features we're marred only by an obviously missing eye that had been crudely covered by sewing the eyelid shut. His one good eye was a piercing and cold blue that lived up to his name.

"Mind explaining to me how the hell you got in and what you want?" Eggman asked.

"I overheard you talking about that woman and I figured I'd offer my services in helping deal with her," Frostbite said.

"How do you propose to do that?" Eggman asked.

"Because I'm an immortal as well, and I have some history with that one," He smirked at the pictures on the screen, "My my, looks like she still has a soft-spot for mortals despite how fragile and useless they are."

"I'm listening," Eggman said.

"You see, we had a little run in a couple hundred years ago because she stumbled upon me enjoying myself and didn't approve of my kind of fun. As a result we fought and she did all this to me. Took my hand, my leg, my eye. The strangest thing happened though, even has she held her sword to my neck something I can't explain stopped her from killing me. Maybe she just looked me in the eyes and became afraid of consuming everything I am." Frost chuckled at that last part.

"What are you talking about?" Eggman asked.

"If I may interrupt," the voice on the monitor said, "I believe he's referring to an event called a quicking. When one immortal permanently kills another via beheading they absorb their opponents skill and knowledge, at least according to this."

"I like you, you're a fast learner," said Frost.

"What would you ask in return for fixing my little potentional problem?" Eggman said.

"Nothing but the pleasure of crushing her and all she holds dear," Frost withdrew a hand-and-a-half sword from his coat and held it up, the mirror-polished blade almost glowing under the fluorescent lighting..

"It's a tempting offer," Eggman rubbed his chin.

"You game, or not?" Frost gently ran his fingers up and down the blade.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Eggman questioned.

"You don't, but it's not like I can do much harm when I'm already working for pleasure," Frost answered.

"Okay, you're hired, but you better not try and pull anything funny," Eggman held out his hand.

"Wouldn't dream of it, doctor," Frost took his hand in a tight grip and shock it.

After letting go he disappeared once again into the shadows, "I'll be in touch when I'm through with my task, or if I require any services you can provide."

"Something about that one makes me uneasy, he's to calm and he seems almost happy to do this dirty work," The figure on the monitor said, "I also wonder how knew you we're snooping around and managed to be here just at the right time."

"Maybe, but I'm curious when he can do and I'm also curious what she can do. Watching them duke it out might provide me answers to both those questions no matter who wins," Eggman said.

"Very well, contact me if you require further services. The payment for what I already have goes to the usual place," The screen went blank.

"This just keeps more interesting," Eggman mused.


	5. Update

Update, please go back and see the second chapter which is now correct instead of being a repeat of the first one. I must have botched and used the wrong document to post it without realizing the first time.


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